POSITION SPECIFICATION
The Pension Boards—United Church of Christ
New York, New York
Chief Investment Officer
_______________________________________________________________________
Background
The current Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at The Pension Boards is retiring after 11 years in the position.
The assets of The Pensions Boards are (6-30-03) about $2.8 billion. Its annual operating budget of $l8 million is used to manage various accumulation and annuity programs, and benefit programs for about 21,000 active, inactive and retired clergy and lay workers, who are members of the various plans. The total staff is about 95.
Besides annuity benefits, the Pension Boards also provides medical, dental, life, and disability benefit coverage for all church employees, as well as welfare benefits for ordained clergy.
The CIO is ultimately responsible for The Pension Boards’ investment results. Specific responsibilities include recommending policy and guidelines to the Investment Committee, setting investment strategy, and directing all portfolio management, research, trading, and investment operations functions through separate heads of equity, fixed-income and investment operations groups. In addition, the CIO is a major spokes-person for the Pension Boards serving as an ambassador of confidence to members on investment and other issues. The CIO works closely with others in the organization to improve the organization’s products and services. The CIO is a member of the Pension Boards’ Senior Management Team, relating to Directors of Human Resources/Administration, Public Relations/Communications, Treasurer/CFO, Member Services and Information Technology, respectively.
The CIO of the Pension Boards, subject to election by the Board of Directors of the United Church Foundation, is the CIO of the Foundation, which administers endowments for church related institutions. As such, the CIO has many of the same responsibilities with respect to the Foundation that he or she has with respect to the Pension Boards. The CIO acts as an investment advisor to the Covenanted Ministries. For additional information about the Pension Boards and their latest annual report, go to: United Church of Christ, New York, New York,
Key Dimensions:
The following assets are those of both the Pension Boards and the United Church Foundation.
a. Equity
$ 1.391 Billion (06/30/03)
i. Internal Management
$ 0.921 Billion (06/30/03)
ii. Oversight of
Outside Managers $ 0.470 Billion (06/30/03
b. Fixed-Income
$ 1.401 Billion (06/30/03
i. Internal Management
$ 1.401 Billion (06/30/03
Attractions
A new Executive Vice President of The Pension Boards has a commitment and vision for program growth.
The Pension Boards wants to develop and evaluate "new products" for pension plan members. The Chief Investment Officer will play a big role in this project.
An opportunity to work in a business-like environment, with incentive plans, devoted to helping ministers and lay employees in one of the mainline Protestant denominations. Most people have come from Wall Street or other corporate backgrounds.
Emphasis on a team approach to investment decisions.
Critical Issues
Small, team approach, quality staff environment. Those coming from a corporate setting need to feel comfortable in a not-for-profit religious organization.
The Position
The Chief Investment Officer reports to the Executive Vice President/CEO The Pension Boards—United Church of Christ and has two direct reports, one for equity and one for fixed-income. The total investment department staff is 11. There is also a close working relationship with investment accounting, under the Controller and CFO, respectively. There will a close working relationship with the Investment Committee.
Primary Responsibilities:
The Chief Investment Officer:
Qualifications
The Ideal Candidate Should Be:
A seasoned administrator, a money manager, and an investment strategist,
Highly motivated and able to highly motivate others.
A strong communicator, in the very broadest sense of the term. Not only should the individual be able to write and speak well, but he or she must be able to inspire trust and confidence in all of The Pension boards’ settings.
The Ideal Candidate Should Have:
An investment philosophy consistent with The Pension Boards United Church of Christ. A description of The Pension Boards’ investment philosophy is based on the ideas that (1) it is extremely difficult to beat the markets, and (2) you win over the long-term by not losing in the short-term.
Actual money management experience. Assuming that The Pension Boards is going to continue to manage money internally, this sort of experience is essential to keep the program on course during all sorts of environments, to make good asset allocation decisions, to insure good decisions by others, and to insure successful supervision and motivation of the staff. Viewed from the outside, credibility questions would be raised if a person without actual investment experience were in charge of a group of people managing money.
A strong client orientation. To keep The Pension Boards’existing clients, to make them happy, to convince them to send The Pension Boards’ additional funds and to attract a large number of new clients, require an individual who cares and who can project that caring spirit.
A strong sense of responsibility. He or she must recognize that the financial well-being of plan members rests on decisions they will make or participate in, and he or she must understand what it means to act in a fiduciary capacity. The successful candidate must be prepared to fight for the rights of the individuals he or she represents.
The experience of having worked as a member of senior management, and perhaps in a company not solely devoted to the investment business, could well prove to be a plus. As a member of the Pension Boards’ Management Team, the CIO will have to work well with others with very different responsibilities, and he or she will have to understand and believe in the wider goals of the organization.
The Pension Boards—United Church of Christ is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Candidates and sources, please communicate with:
Bob Sellery or Katie Wilson, Robert Sellery Associates, Ltd.
1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., 10th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036.
Email: wilson@sellery.com,
sellery@sellery.com
FAX 202.333.1167
Telephone: 202.331.0090
All inquiries will be kept in strict confidence.
R
OBERT SELLERY ASSOCIATES, LTD.
